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Two air ambulances called to road smash near Carlisle

A man was fighting for his life today after being airlifted to hospital following a crash between a truck carrying a skip and a car.

An air ambulance leaves the scene

The man, a 30-year-old from Lockerbie, was a passenger in a black Volkswagen Passat which was involved in a collision with a Brampton Skips DAF LF truck at Harker Road Ends, to the north of Carlisle.

He was taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, where he remains in a critical condition with multiple injuries, including those to his head and chest.

The car was being driven by a 69-year-old man from Moffat, who was airlifted to the James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough with pelvic injuries.

His condition was described as being serious but stable.

The driver of the skip wagon, a 45-year-old man from Brampton, was taken to Carlisle’s Cumberland Infirmary with minor injuries, but was not kept in for further treatment.

Both vehicles left the road after the crash near Aero Nurseries at about 2pm yesterday (Thursday).

The road was closed for nearly five hours while the scene was cleared and police launched their investigation into the collision’s cause.

Officers are keen to speak to a driver who they believe could have information which may help them.

A Cumbria police spokeswoman said: “Officers are making an appeal to trace a motorist who was seen driving a dark coloured car along the Gretna to Kingmoor road and made a left turn onto Parkhouse Road near to Harker Road Ends at about 2pm. It is believed that this driver may have witnessed the collision – or part of the collision – and may have information that could be vital to the police inquiry.”

Firefighters and a number of police attended and helped cut the casualties free from the car, which was in a ditch.

The air ambulances dispatched were the Great North Air Ambulance’s Langwathby-based Pride of Cumbria and another of the charity’s helicopters from Darlington in County Durham.